


High Places

by Skeren



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-22 23:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6097347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skeren/pseuds/Skeren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cloud happens to like high places. They let him think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These two connected oneshots were written in December of 2006.

He spread out his arms, balance carefully poised on the high perch as he peered downwards from the beam he'd climbed up to. It was dangerous to come up here, possibly deadly if he fell, but he had never had any fear of heights. In fact, he could honestly say he had never really been afraid of anything that didn't come from human hands.

That was another story entirely, and not one that he was going to think about too hard while he was up here. Up here was its own kind of freedom, and he had no intention of spoiling it. 

Padding further out along the narrow strip of metal, he subconsciously counted in time to the steps of the troops down below, the group of them headed in for the night after what looked like extra drills. If he remembered correctly, that group had gotten caught up in a prank war recently. His own group had been excluded only because they were so new.

That hadn't meant that they hadn't been involved, they just hadn't been included in the 'war' part of it. They'd certainly been casualties a few times. 

Thus, they could honestly say they didn't know anything about the plans for it. And they claimed no responsibility as a group for any reprimands that came about due to personal revenge. Shaking his head, he moved to the end of the beam and leaned over, bracing both hands on it before straddling it in a practiced movement.

The metal was just thick enough that the action wasn't highly painful, as he'd learned a few weeks ago when he'd found this place on accident. The street signs and buildings were staggered in just the right way that anyone looking up from below wouldn't be able to see him through the glare of the lights, but he could watch others without fear of notice.

It was a perfect perch for someone who didn't like to get attention with their climbing exploits. Gods knew he hadn't been sure how to handle the praise when he'd cleared the bet on the 'un-climbable' tower just after he'd gotten here. He'd still been high on the success of managing to get _into_ the army in the first place and he hadn't really been thinking. So, having heard the bets, not to mention watched someone fumble around it in entirely the wrong way, he'd decided to show them how it was supposed to be done.

He wasn't exactly sure which one was worse, being called a monkey, or being called a chocobo. Ultimately, he just pretended he didn't hear either one, and he kept to himself as much as possible in the wake of his unplanned fame. By now the others had gotten the hint he wasn't exactly social, and while he sometimes regretted not being on the 'in' track, it was sort of reassuring to know they wouldn't bother him.

They certainly didn't let anyone else bother him either, and that was a good trade.

Staring downwards into the dark as guards changed and soldiers finished returning to their rooms, his eyes followed a few who had been on leave leaning drunkenly into each other. Their laughter was loud enough that he could hear it even this high up, and he had to repress a sigh. 

Being alone had its perks, sure, but there was an ultimate, inescapable, downside.

Being alone.

Shaking his head, he leaned to the side and reasserted his grip with one hand, using momentum to swing and catch another exposed bar under him so he could brace his feet for the climb down instead of falling several stories.

Tonight didn't seem to be a good night for enjoying the scenery. Better to just go to bed, and he could try again later.


	2. Seriously Misconstrued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack misunderstands.

He hadn't had the time to come up here in a while. Hell, he hadn't had time for much of anything in the last few months. Exams were coming up, and people who were just outright not suitable for certain services were getting weeded out to different areas. He didn't want to get caught unprepared.

So, he'd been studying, training, and just outright trying to better himself. He was younger than most of the others, he knew that, so he had to work twice as hard just to get the same consideration from the instructors. They weren't going to go easy on him just because he was young. If anything, he got a harder time for being in so early.

That was fine though, it kept him from thinking about things too hard. It also looked like life was going to conspire against him to keep it that way too, his eyes darting down as he heard a shout from below.

"Hey! Wait!" 

Thinking on it, he knew the voice, it was a SOLDIER he'd seen a few times while out on the base, but what was he…? 

"There are better ways! Just… Don't move. I'll be right there and we can talk it out, okay?" 

Talk what out? The man was going to hurt himself. He certainly didn't look all that good at finding handholds. Okay, enough was enough. He shouted back down. "What are you doing?" 

"I'm coming up there to get you. Just don't do anything until I get there. Please. I know life can be hard, but there are other ways!"

He stared as he registered what the man was saying. "Wait… Wait! I'm not trying to kill myself!"

The hard wind what kicked up from the storm clouds rolling in apparently made him harder to understand. "No really… until I get there…" It certainly made the man nigh unintelligible.

He twitched when the man slipped. He had gotten high enough by now even a SOLDIER would have trouble recovering from an uncontrolled fall. "Be careful! You can go back! I'm not suicidal!" It was clear the man didn't get all of that, and he grimaced at another less than solid position. Okay, he needed to get down there before the man killed himself. 

He'd have thought a SOLDIER would be better at something as simple as climbing. He could see the man shouting, not to mention his alarm, when he swung to start down, but he couldn’t hear it, the wind had picked up too much. 

He was faster to climb down than the man was to climb up, not being on the side exposed to wind, though he could see the worry in the lines of the man's face. No, on closer inspection it became clear that he was a teen, just an older one. "I'm fine! We can go back down now." 

This time, it was clear the teen could hear him fine, though he was irked at the dubious look. "What were you doing up there?"

"I like high places." He reached through the holes in the beams and grabbed the other teen's shirt when he slipped again, this time almost losing his hold completely. "Be careful! It's not safe to fall from here."

"I know that! That's why I was coming up here. I thought you were trying to kill yourself." When the dark haired teen proved he had a solid hold, Cloud let go and started back down properly. "Thanks for the save there."

"You're welcome. And, I wasn't. How did you even know I was up here?"

The black haired teen grinned, batting his eyes as the wind whipped hair into his face. "Good eyesight. Nice bonus, don't you think?"

"I guess so. You really didn't need to come up here though." Now that they were getting closer to the ground, he found himself studying the teen more than his hold. 

"Yeah I did." His words were serious, though a smile stayed on his face when he spoke. He was far more cheerful than anyone Cloud had talked to recently. "If I'd been right, you would have fallen. And if I hadn't climbed up, well, I wouldn't have met you, now would I? See? No real alternative. My name is Zack, by the way, yours?"

"Cloud Strife, sir." He jumped the last distance to ground as they hit the lowest crossbeams, eyes flitting back to the SOLDIER. He knew for sure that he was one too, because the growing dark made that telltale glow more than obvious. 

"No need to call me sir, kid. Just call me Zack. C'mon, I'll feed you to make up for my mistake and we can talk about it, deal?"

He nodded, eyeing the guy suspiciously when he gave him an expectant look. "Cloud, sir. Not kid." 

"Okay, okay, you don't call me sir, and I won't call you kid." He tipped his head in a short jerk, the grin growing. "We should get moving before it starts to rain though."

A glance skyward proved the teen was right. "Of course, si-… Zack." 

"See? That's not so hard." He draped his arm around his shoulder at that point, and the blond was less than relieved to see his eyeing went utterly ignored. "I can see us having a nice long friendship ahead of us."

Cloud couldn't say why exactly that statement filled him with unspeakable horror, but at least that wasn't the only emotion there. The other one would just take some getting used to. 

At least he was getting a free meal out of this.


End file.
